Just Ask

Yesterday I learned a valuable lesson in asking for what you want or what you deserve. Let's just say you never want your boss to call you up and demand to give you a big raise. I mean, you do, of course, but when it happens and when said boss actually says "I'm appalled at your pay rate -- why haven't you said anything before?", well, you tend to feel like a dumbass. The new manager at Giant Test Prep Company, Inc. called me to say just that, and while at this point in my life getting a four dollar an hour raise for the few hours I work there a week will sadly be a noticeable improvement in my finances, my reaction was also an equal mixture of kicking myself for not bringing up the subject myself sooner. Anyway, that is my lesson for everyone for the week: think you're underpaid? Ask for more. If you're a grad student, at least you'll all get a good laugh out of it. Want some help on a project? Ask. Want to pick the brain of someone wiser and more experienced than yourself, as I did yesterday with the incomparable V.? Ask. Other advice for the week: enjoy the full harvest moon tomorrow night. Go pick some squash. Or eat some squash. Or read about the Columbian exchange and the importance of squash in New World diets.